268A/n: I'm so sorry guys I have been completely MIA for the past couple of months. The truth is that it was a mixture between laziness, personal problems and writer's block that prevented me from updating. I won't bore you with the details so let's just leave it as that.
Enjoy!
Chapter Seventeen
Going Out
"So tonight should be fun." Brooke mentioned casually as she was finishing curling her hair in front of her bathroom mirror. She wanted to look different than her usual straight hair she tended to wear on most days.
"I supposed." Haley responded from her spot on the bed, not at all sounding too sure about tonight's outing. The truth was that she was nervous, scared even of what tonight could mean for her relationship with Nathan.
"Just talk to him Haley." Brooke said sticking her head out of the bathroom to look at her. She knew why her best friend was in this mood. She practically had Nathan Scott written all over her face.
"I am…is just that when I tried talking to him earlier he was so distant. Then he said he may or may not be coming tonight." Haley explained, letting out a tired sigh. "I mean, what if he doesn't show up?"
"Oh he's coming." Brooke remarked in a confident tone. Once again she turned towards where her mirror was and started putting some light make-up on.
"How can you be so sure?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's Nathan. That boy is so sprung up on you that it's not even funny anymore at this point."
"Sprung?" Haley questioned with a crinkled on her nose.
"Yeah, isn't that a word kids these days use?"
"Okay first of all we are not that old for you to be using the phrase 'kids these days' Brooke." Haley stated, giving Brooke a look even though she was in the bathroom and she couldn't see her. "And second of all really sprung? I'm not even sure 'kids these days' use that word anymore."
"Are you sure? Because I could have sworn I heard a couple of them in my neighborhood say that a few weeks ago?" Brooke commented as she stopped what she was doing to think about what she had just said.
"I'm pretty sure." Haley responded, shaking her head in amusement. Brooke once again shrugged her shoulders and continued doing what she had been doing. They remained quiet for a little bit, Haley lost in her thoughts while Brooke was simply humming a song she knew.
"You seem chipper." Haley observed.
"Of course I am." Brooke answered as she turned her attention from the mirror and went back to her room. "I'm hanging out with my best friend tonight."
Haley rolled her eyes playfully. "Right and I'm sure that smile has nothing to do with a certain blond, blue-eyed boyfriend of yours?" Haley teasingly asked and saw the way Brooke's smiled went wider than usual.
"Okay you caught me but honestly I can't help it. I just saw him a few hours ago and I can't wait to see him again tonight." she confessed as she started blushing slightly. "He makes me happy Haley and when I'm with him I feel like I'm me…like I'm finally complete again."
Haley smiled. She hadn't seen her best friend this happy in a long time. Not even when she was with Julian did she ever look as happy as she was right now. She owed that to Lucas and so much more. He was such a great guy and she couldn't believe she used to think he wasn't.
"You're in love Brooke." Haley said simply with a faint smile on her face. "I hope you let him know that because it would mean the world to Lucas to know that you love him."
"I already did." Brooke confessed, biting her lower lip in the process.
"Tigger! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she exclaimed in an excited voice. "I knew you guys got together but I didn't know 'I love yous' were exchanged! How did that happen? Did he say it back? Oh what am I asking, of course he did!"
"Haley…"
"He's been so in love with you for such a long time. Oh my gosh did he-"
"Haley!" Brooke shouted trying to get her to stop talking for a bit. "First of all calm down, you're starting to freak me out."
Haley took a deep breath and laugh inwardly to herself. She was acting like Brooke when she got excited over something. But her best friend was right and she needed to be calm in order to know what happened. "Alright I'm calm…so what happened?"
So Brooke told Haley everything. From what Luke told her about Anna which then led to that declaration of love and then to that intense kiss they shared.
"Wow…" Haley breathed out.
"I know." Brooke agreed happily as she checked herself one more time in the mirror. "I can't wait for our night out." she admitted to Haley. She hadn't gone out like this since she started dating Julian and she couldn't wait for their fun night to start. Especially with Lucas at her side.
"You think Rachel will actually be there?" Haley asked with a grumble. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Rachel again and she was hoping she wasn't going to be there. It wasn't that she didn't like her but her attitude was just so annoying.
Brooke nodded her head. "She's not that bad you know."
"You wouldn't be saying that if she looked at your boyfriend that way she looked at mine."
"True but just remember she's married."
"I guess…" Haley shrugged her shoulders.
"Plus she's kinda fun in her own bitchy way." Brooke remarked with a grin. It was weird how easily she had become comfortable with Rachel with only a few hours of knowing her. "Are you ready to go?" Brooke changed the topic. She was itching to leave and meet the rest of the gang in the dance club they agreed on.
"Yeah I supposed…" Haley trailed off unsure. She was nervous again. In just a few minutes she was going to maybe see Nathan and figure out where their relationship stood. She didn't know what she would do if he decided he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. But one thing she did know was that tonight whether Nathan forgave her or not, she was going to tell Owen everything.
"Don't worry Bunny. Nathan will talk to you and if he doesn't I'll just make him."
"Right because the best way to start a conversation with someone you're trying to apologize to is to send your best friend to attack him."
"That's exactly the way." Brooke said making Haley laugh for a bit. The moment was over too soon though and Haley went back to her previous state. "There's something more isn't there?" she guessed when she saw her friend's crest fallen face.
"I'm scared Brooke."
"Why?"
"There's just so many girls out there that Nathan could be with yet he chose me. Plain old Haley James. I'm just scared that one day he's going to realize I'm not that special and leave for good."
"No, no, no, don't say that." Brooke went over to comfort her. "Haley you are a special girl and Nathan is lucky to have you."
"Then why is he so mad at me right now? Why can't he forgive me?"
"Because you hurt him." Brooke simply said. "He's hurt and can't think straight right now but once you guys clear everything up tonight, things will be okay again."
"For that to happen I'm going to have to tell Owen everything first."
Though Brooke was surprised at that revelation she didn't show it. She just smiled at Haley proud that she was taking the first steps to fixing everything.
"Are you ready to go now? Or are you still in need of thee old Brooke Davis' wisdom?" she joked lightly.
"Aren't you such a smart ass?" Haley sarcastically said with a smile.
"Oh you know it." Brooke winked at her. "Now come on Haley James, the night is young and I plan to dance all night with my man."
"Umm have you met Lucas?" Haley shouted after her as she followed the brunette out her bedroom. There was no possible way that Lucas was going to be dancing all night with Brooke. Knowing Lucas for a bit over a year and one thing that she learned about him was that he did not dance.
Lucas Scott was so whipped.
A day hadn't even passed since he and Brooke had been together and already she had him wrapped around her finger. Being best friends with Brooke for many years, Haley should have seen this coming but honestly who would have thought this could happen? It was Lucas for God's sake!
Haley still couldn't believe what was going on. Brooke and Lucas were dancing right in front of her eyes. She turned away from that sight and turned her attention to her other best friend who was coming her way.
"Haley J. what a shocking surprise that you're still sitting here on our table." Owen casually strode up to her in a joking manner.
"Well I'm surprise you're not still attached to the hips with the She-Devil herself." Haley shot back.
"Hey I thought you liked Rachel?" Owen said, his cheeks turning a rosy color. Haley noticed this but decided not to comment on it for now.
"No that's Brooke. I'm still on the fence with your friend."
"Why do you have to say it like that?" Owen asked somewhat defensively.
"Just forget about it." she said.
"What's wrong Haley?"
"Nothing." Haley replied dejectedly as she looked around the room in hopes Nathan would be around. He wasn't. When she and Brooke arrived at this dance club everyone was already here except Nathan. Owen said that he would be coming much later but she was starting to doubt it.
"Where's Rachel?" she suddenly asked looking around for the aforementioned redhead. It wasn't like she cared but she needed something to distract her from her thoughts.
"She said she had to go use the bathroom." he responded as he took a seat across from her. "And seeing as you were all alone I wanted to keep you company."
"Thanks O." Haley smiled at him tentatively. A few minutes passed of awkward silence, something that had never happened between them.
"Never thought I see the day these two would finally be together." Owen broke the silence, his gaze set on Brooke and Lucas dancing on the dance floor.
"You and me both." Haley agreed not really into this conversation.
"They make a good couple you know." he continued on even though Haley wasn't really paying much attention at this point. "Luke brings out a side of her that we haven't seen in a long time and Brooke brings out a more fun side of him."
"Mhmm." she simply hummed.
"Okay seriously what is wrong with you today?" he asked kind of frustrated with the way she had been acting.
Haley looked at him pensively. It was now or never. Even if Nathan and her were still at odds, Owen had the right to know what was going on between them. "Owen there's actually something I have to tell you."
Owen raised a quizzical eyebrow at her words. "Oh yeah? What about?" he asked, leaning against the booth chair.
"It's about umm…" Haley began to say, hoping he wasn't going to get too mad at her. "Well you see the thing is that there's something that I have been hiding from you for a while now." she started off nervously looking at her hands that were lying on the table top instead of him. "Damn, I'm just going to come out and say it but please don't get too mad." she pleaded though she knew she had no right to tell him not to get mad. If Owen wanted to get mad he had every right to do so. "Nathan and I umm we have been going out for a year now." she quickly told him not looking up at him to see his reaction.
Owen remained quiet. He was actually a bit surprise that she decided to tell him now. He thought he was going to have to get it out of her himself. Still to have his suspicions be confirm was really something.
"I know." he simply said after a while of suspense silent.
"How did you…?"
"It's not that hard to figure out Haley." he said giving her a pointed look. Haley looked down ashamed. "I've known for a while now actually. I was just waiting for you to finally tell me."
"I'm sorry Owen." Haley apologized as she grabbed his hand that was lying on the table. "I wanted to tell you but I was scared you were going to disapproved of what me and Nathan had."
"Haley I wouldn't have liked it back then because you deserved so much better than Nathan but I would have understood. And you know why? Because I love you and that knucklehead brother of mine. And if he made you happy then I would have been okay with that."
"Guess I was just acting stupid."
"Really, really stupid." he stated with a laugh. She offered him a small smile that soon turned into a frown. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing really." she shrugged her shoulders. "Is just that I realized this confession probably doesn't matter anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Nathan and I sort got in a fight earlier today and well I don't know what's going on between us anymore."
"You love him don't you?" Owen made a simple observation. He suspected it but there was never a chance to confirm his suspicions.
"Yeah, I do but I don't think that matters anymore." Haley told him sadly as she once again looked around the place to see if Nathan had come. "He's not even here." she said her eyes cast down.
Owen took a moment to study her features. She really did love that brother of his. "My brother is an idiot…" he began to say. "…but in this case he might not be such an idiot after all." He stood up winking at her as he left the table.
Haley sat there wondering what he meant by that. So many things were running through her head that she didn't realize that someone had come up to her table.
"Haley."
She slowly looked up, surprised to hear that familiar voice that made her heart fluttered.
"Nathan." she breathed out, acknowledging his presence. "I-I thought you weren't going to come.
"We need to talk." Nathan said. He was looking at her in such a serious way that she thought that this was it. He finally came to his senses and was going to break up with her. And that thought alone was making her heart break little by little.
Lucas' body was tightly pressed against her own, his hands resting on her backside. They were still dancing only slower than they had been a few minutes ago. The beat of the music had changed to a slower tempo so that could have been the reason why but in reality, Lucas just wanted to feel Brooke as closed to him as possible.
She didn't mind one bit.
"You're horrible." Lucas leaned down to whispered in her ear.
"Oh yeah…why?" Brooke replied back with a smirk as she stepped closer to him, draping her arms around his neck.
"You know why." Lucas said, giving her a playful look. He wasn't much of a dancer yet he had been on the dance floor dancing with his beautiful girlfriend ever since they arrived at this club.
"Well on my defense you already knew what you were getting yourself into when you got with me." She giggled, playing with the little hairs on the back of his neck.
"Which was what a few hours ago?" Lucas chuckled lightly.
"And they have been the best hours of my life." she told him with a huge smile.
"Well I'm glad I could help in that Ms. Davis." he said as they continued to dance to the beat of the music.
"Tired yet Cheery?" Lucas asked a few minutes later with such a hopeful face that Brooke couldn't help but to rolled her eyes at him.
"Alright you big baby let's take a break." Brooke said, shaking her head laughing.
"A rest of the night break?" he asked hopefully, giving her this cute puppy dog face.
"Only ten minutes babe, ten minutes." Brooke corrected him and she smiled in amusement at the way his face fell. "Could have said no earlier when I dragged you to the dance floor Broody." she added as an afterthought.
"No one can say no to you." he pouted slightly. "Well except maybe your mom."
Brooke smiled at the way his face looked at the moment. He was so cute when he pouted. He looked like a little kid who wasn't getting his way. "Speaking about my mom, I told her about us." Brooke casually mentioned linking her fingers with his as they finally started making their way out of the dance floor.
"Oh yeah? And what does Momma Davis think about that?" Lucas asked with humor in his tone.
"She approves." Brooke answered smiling widely at him. She loved how well he got along with her family in especially her mom. She hoped that she would be the same with his mom when she met her.
Whenever that would be.
"I'm glad to hear that." he said as he sat down on their unoccupied table with Brooke following suit. He wondered why the table was empty when not so long ago he had seen Haley here. Now he wasn't sure where she was. Could she have gone home?
"You should be because my mom is very protective of me." Brooke informed him in a matter of fact tone.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yup." she replied as she scooted closer and began trailing kisses on the side of his jaw.
"What are you doing Pretty Girl?" Lucas asked with a small smile. He would be lying if he said her kisses weren't affecting him. Especially the way she slightly nipped at his skin in a slow sensual way.
"Oh nothing Broody." Brooke remarked with a grin. She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips before pulling away. "I love you, you know that." she whispered at him before attaching her lips back against his. The kiss this time was strong yet passionate and filled with emotions. It remained like that until she pulled back slowly. "I'm never going to get tired of saying that."
"Well I'm never going to get tired of hearing that." Lucas responded. He still couldn't believe that they were here at this moment together and happy. It almost seem surreal to him.
A few minutes passed and they were still sitting down just talking comfortably. Brooke had completely forgotten about dancing because in all honesty when she was with Lucas, everything seemed to disappear and it was just him and her in their own little world.
"Do you think they will be alright?" Brooke asked out of nowhere confusing Lucas about who she was talking about.
"Who are you talking about Brooke?"
"Nathan and Haley." she replied as she looked at the secluded corner they were talking in. She had just spotted them a few seconds ago and curiosity got the best of her.
Lucas looked over where she was looking and immediately understood what she was talking about. With the way their body language looked like, he was pretty sure they were on their way to reconciliation. Brooke had briefly told him about what went down between them and although he never told his girlfriend this, he was on Nathan's side. He understood where Nathan was coming from. After all a year was too than enough to keep a relationship hidden.
"I think they'll be more than alright." Lucas answered smiling when he saw the mentioned couple holding hands and beaming at each other.
"I think so too." Brooke quickly agreed as she snuggled closer into his body. She was happy that Haley and Nathan were patching things up with each other. And she was even happier that she decided to finally give Lucas a chance. He made her happy and that was all that mattered to her right now.
"To the best night of my life!" Rachel yelled cheerfully as she raised her drink up in the air.
"Cheers!" the rest of the group of friends said in unison.
"Also, also…" the obvious slightly drunk redhead continued. "To Haley for finally having the balls to tell Owen the truth about her secret relationship with Mr. McMuffin over there." she said sending a wink at the raven haired man.
"Rachel!" Haley shrieked, annoyed that she was just blurting out things like that.
"Umm yeah sorry about that bro." Nathan apologized, feeling awkward around his older brother for the first time ever. Though things seemed to be cool between them, it still felt a bit uncomfortable being out in the open in front of Owen.
"Just know Nathan, if you hurt Haley I will hurt you." Owen threatened him just like any brother would do to his sister's boyfriend. He loved his brother and everything but Haley was his best friend, she was like a sister to him and he would be damn if he let his little brother be the one to cause her any sort of emotional pain.
"No problem here Owen." Nathan answered, wrapping his arm around Haley's shoulders. "She's safe with me."
Owen nodded his head seriously before turning his attention to Lucas. "And that goes for you too Lucas. You hurt Brookie here and I will hurt you too."
"You know I won't." Lucas replied as he unconsciously pulled Brooke closer to him. "I won't hurt her …" he said looking at Brooke and not at Owen. "…ever."
"I know you won't." Brooke whispered back as she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
"Oh yuck!" Rachel commented as she made a disgusted face at Brooke and Lucas' public display of affection.
"Shut up!" Brooke replied laughing as she threw her a rolled up napkin that was lying on their table.
"Hey now don't go mistreating the slightly drunk girl." Nathan jokingly protested.
"You're only saying that because you love the attention Rachel gives you Mr. McMuffin." Brooke playfully teased him.
"Is that true now?" Haley narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend.
"O-Of course not!" Nathan remarked hastily. "Brooke is just messing around Hales!"
"It better not be." Haley warned him. Although she was somewhat fine with Rachel at the moment, she still had some reservations towards her.
"You know I love you." Nathan said kissing her softly on the lips. He was beyond ecstatic that he was going to be able to do that from on now in public. Haley telling Owen about them earlier was prove enough that she loved him and that's why they were able to fix things between them so fast.
"That's going to take some time getting used to." Owen said in a semi disgusted tone. He swallowed a large amount of beer from his cup as he watched his brother and Haley kissing.
"Anyways…" Lucas cleared his throat. "What was it that you wanted to tell us Rachel?" The six of them were gathered because apparently Rachel had some news to share.
"Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder Luke." she thanked the blond. "Well I have been thinking about this a lot and I've decided to take the modeling job being offered to me in New York." she announced her news happily. "So there will be more of Rachel to go around!"
"That's great!" Brooke beamed brightly at her. She had warmed up to Rachel already despite her sarcastic comments so she would have hated to see her leave New York.
The others also congratulated Rachel, Owen being the one to crush her in a big bear hug. He was delighted that Rachel was going to be living in New York. He had missed her terribly over the past year with their only communication being the phone and the e-mails they sent each other. She had really made an impact on him in his time he spent in Orlando and he was glad with her decision.
"I say we propose a toast to Rach here for her new job!" Owen happily declared, raising his drink up in the air.
"And to the best night of my life!" Rachel again said which made everyone laugh at that.
"To reconciliations." Haley proposed too as she looked at Nathan who winked at her.
"And to love." Lucas cheesily added with everyone playfully rolling their eyes at him.
"Oh Broody, you can be so cheesy sometimes." Brooke nudged him playfully.
"Only for you." Lucas replied.
"Awww" everyone at the table slightly mocked his words.
Two Months Later
They had been together for two months now and Brooke couldn't have been happier than she was at the moment. Sure they had their fights but they were mostly stupid ones that could be easily fixed in a matter of minutes.
Like this one for example. If Lucas wasn't being so stubborn that is.
"But I want to go Lucas." Brooke said firmly as she entered his apartment with him following close behind. She was really getting tired of this back and forth argument that had been going for a few days already.
Brooke stomped her way into the living room. Lucas sighed loudly following after her. He had a stubborn girlfriend and when she had something on her mind, no one could persuade her away from it. "I know you do and I would love for you to come but I really don't think you should."
"Lucas." Brooke stopped in the middle of his living room. "What's wrong with me wanting to spend our first Christmas together?"
"Nothing babe." Lucas reassured her because he would love nothing more than to spend the holidays with her. "But I don't want you to miss spending Christmas with your family because you want to spend it with me and my family in Tree Hill."
"You spent Thanksgiving with mine." Brooke reminded him and she saw the way his eyes squinted in a thoughtful way. She had him, she was sure. She was very close to convincing her stubborn brooder.
"I know but-"
"No buts." she silenced him by placing her index finger to his lips. "It's only fair Luke." Brooke said giving him a somewhat stern look. "Plus I already talked to my mom and Clay and they are fine with it." she continued on when she saw he was still not fully convinced.
"I just don't want you to regret it when we're actually there." Lucas told her as put his hands on her small waist and pulled her close.
"Are you kidding me? I'm going to finally meet your family and friends. You're always talking about them and I want to meet the people who mean the most to you." Brooke said as she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. "There won't be any regrets on my part."
"Okay Pretty Girl." Lucas finally gave in, offering her a tired smile.
"Okay?" Brooke asked to make sure.
"Okay." Lucas repeated giving her a kiss on her forehead before bringing her down on the couch with him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Happy now?" he asked with a fond smile. He could never say no to her. He didn't know why he spent the last few days trying to.
"Very." she answered, snuggling closer to him. She couldn't wait to finally meet his family and go to visit the place he called home for the first twenty two years of his life.
"I'm never going to win an argument with you ever again huh?"
"Nope." she simply smiled. "But honestly Luke, you knew that even before we got together."
"That I did."
To Be Continued…
Just a fun chapter wrapping up a couple story lines. Sorry that it's shorter than usual. Anyways Tree Hill is on the next chapter and because I have sucked on updating lately, I have a huge surprise planned for the upcoming chapters. I'm pretty sure most of you are going to like it ;)
Please Review!